I.01 RETURNING PLAYER:
Any player registering with the Association prior to the registration deadline who played on an Association team during the immediately preceding season of league play.

I.02 NEW PLAYER:
Any player registering with the Association prior to the registration deadline who did not play on an Association team during the immediately preceding season of league play.

I.03 LATE PLAYER:
Any NEW PLAYER or any RETURNING PLAYER registering, or attempting to
register, with the Association after the Registration deadline but prior to TRYOUTS.

I.04 RETURNING TEAM:
A group of at least six (6) players choosing to play on the same Association team, as they were rostered to the previous season.

I.05 NEW TEAM:
Any Association team that is not a RETURNING TEAM and not a TRANSFER TEAM.

I.06 TRANSFER TEAM:
Any group of player′s age 10 - 14 years old meeting the eligibility requirements of both the Parent Organization and BYBA. Who were members of the same team during the previous season of play, registering with BYBA as a team See Section Two 1, D for additional regulations.

I.07 DIVISION:
The Parent Organization and BYBA term used to define groups of league levels:

A. Elite/Majors – Major League
B. AAA – AAA League
C. AA –AA League
D. A – A League

I.10 BIRTH CERTIFICATE:
Copy of State issued Certificate of Live Birth

I.11 COACHES CERTIFICATION:
Having attended and completed Coaches Clinics as provided or approved by the
Association prior to coaching a second season. Certification itself may change and level required at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors.

I.12 HEAD COACH:
A Head Coach is one who has submitted both the coach′s application, and background form, and has been approved by the Coaches Committee.

I.13 ASSISTANT COACH:
An Assistant Coach is one who has submitted both the coach′s application, and
background form, and has been approved by the Coaches Committee.

I.14 COACHING STAFF:
The recognized coaching staff of an Association′s team is the approved Head Coach, and the approved Assistant Coaches.

I.15 REFERRED PLAYER:
A player referred to BYBA by another association. A referred player will be drafted in the out of area round and may be drafted to play in any one of the BYBA high school boundaries.

Section II: REGULATIONS

II.01 FORMATION OF TEAMS
A. Majors/Elite, AAA, and AA League: All Majors, AAA, and AA League players shall be selected from players in the TRYOUTS. No player shall be assigned to a Majors, AAA, or AA League team who does not participate in the TRYOUTS. (See TRYOUTS and DRAFT for specific details).

B. “A” or "AA Low" (as applicable) League Teams: No team shall be allowed to decline any RETURNING PLAYER'S request to remain on the same team.

C. TRANSFER TEAM
1. ALL HIGH SCHOOL AREAS
a. A minimum of six (6) players, all of whom were teammates on the same team during the immediate previous season of play; and:

b. Must declare at the beginning of the draft what their high school area will be, and:

c. Must have at the conclusion of the draft six (6) players rostered in the declared high school area, and;

d. Verification, acceptable to the Registration Committee of BYBA is presented indicating that all of the players desiring to register on the same team were, in fact, teammates during the previous season and;

e. All of the players desiring to register with BYBA as a team approve the same individual as the Head Coach of their team and;

f. Birth Certificates for all players are submitted to BYBA and;
g. Transfer teams shall be assigned a league level assignment by the Bracketing Committee. The level assignment shall be final and no subsequent appeals shall be acted upon by the Bracketing Committee and;

D. NEW HIGH SCHOOL AREA
1. A newly constructed high school within the BYBA boundaries or a high school within BYBA boundaries that is not currently a member of the Association
a. The initial teams will be 9-year-old teams.
b. The Board of Directors may at their discretion form other age teams based on area registration.

II.02 SELECTION OF COACHES
A. Approval and selection of Head Coaches for Association teams shall be given by the Coaches Committee and the Board of Directors based on information provided by the applicant on the annual Coach′s Application, and Background Form.

B. The Assistant coach shall be appointed by the approved Head Coach of each team, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. No person shall be permitted to be an assistant coach of an Association team who does not complete and submit a Coach′s Application, and Background Form.

C. Any previous Association Coach (Head or Assistant) who performs actions that are deemed detrimental to the Association, as determined by the Board of Directors, shall not be allowed consideration by the Coaches Committee for a coaching position for a period to be determined by the Board of Directors.

D. Any Association Coach (Head or Assistant) who fails to have at least six (6) players register to return within the Association, regardless of player option of returning to the same team or entering tryouts, from the preceding season shall not be allowed consideration for a coaching position for that immediate season. The Coaches Committee shall have final determination in hearing appeals or exceptions to this rule.

II.03 BRACKETING OF TEAMS (League Level Assignment)
A. Bracketing of teams shall be a function of the Bracketing Committee, consisting of the President, Majors/AAA Director, AA/A League Representative and those appointed by the President. The Committee shall honor requests, by the Head Coach of an Association team, insofar as is reasonable. The Bracketing Committee must adhere to all requirements of the League regarding placement of teams. See SECTION 2.01.D.1.g for Transfer Teams bracketing.

II.04 REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
A. ALL PLAYERS must select one of the following options:
1. OPTION 1 – NEW PLAYER Must tryout.

B. LATE PLAYERS may be allowed to enter the TRYOUTS at the sole discretion of the Registration Committee. No LATE PLAYER shall be considered to be a RETURNING PLAYER.

C. Any 7/8, 9, or 10-year-old seeking a position on a 7/8, 9, or 10-Year-Old Competitive League teams must enter the TRYOUTS. Any player not placed on such team(s) shall be assigned to the Association's 10-and-Under Kid Pitch team.

D. Any player may state the option to play Major/Elite League or NOT play Majors League and the Association shall honor such a declaration. The only exception to this Regulation shall be that if, in a High School boundary age group, a specific High School Area has no teams in a League level(s) requested by the player, then that player shall be drafted by or assigned to the lowest League level available. No League level changes shall be accepted after forty-eight (48) hours prior to scheduled tryouts.

E. The Board of Directors shall determine registration deadlines.

F. Waiting List - Any player attempting to register with the Association after the TRYOUTS shall be placed on the Waiting List. Players on the Waiting List shall be assigned to a team only upon request of a Head Coach or team needs. Players on the Waiting List shall be assigned to teams in the order in which the players were placed on the Waiting List. However, the President has the right to waive the sequence of assigning Waiting List players should an opening occur on a Majors League team in order to avoid placing a player with insufficient skills in an inappropriate situation. Further, the Board of Directors is REQUIRED to immediately dismiss any coach of any Majors League team for abuse of this Regulation insofar as a player, or players, being instructed by a coach to deliberately register late in order to avoid the TRYOUTS and DRAFT.

G. A minimum of six (6) players choosing to remain on the same team shall constitute a RETURNING TEAM. Should any team have less than six (6) players choose to remain on the same team, those players choosing to remain on the same team must enter the TRYOUTS and be drafted. Players choosing to tryout for Majors League or any higher league level shall be considered to be remaining on the same team for the purposes of this paragraph, if applicable.

II.05 TRYOUTS
A. TRYOUTS shall be conducted, age-group-by-age-group, at such a time and place as determined by the Board of Directors.

B. Multiple day TRYOUTS are permitted but not required, each players trying out must attend at least one tryout session.

C. 8 through 14-year-old Majors, AAA, and AA League will tryout in the fall, a spring tryout may be scheduled under special circumstances and with board approval.

D. League Regulations and Rules of Play regarding Tryouts, if any, must be adhered to by the Association.

E. Any Association team cannot draft any player who does not attend TRYOUTS. The Draft Committee shall assign such players to a team or teams in the lowest division level. EXCEPTION: The Chairperson of the Draft Committee has the authority, on a case-by case basis only, to waive this requirement.

II.06 DRAFT
A. ALL 7 AND 8-YEAR-OLD COMPETITIVE BASEBALL PLAYERS
1. The Board of Directors shall appoint an Evaluation Committee to place all 7/8-year-olds based on a skill assessment.

B. MAJORS/ELITE, AAA, AA,and A LEAGUES
1. Draft order, by League, shall be the top level team at each Majors/Elite league, AAA league, AA league, and then Low- AA or Single A league.

2. Draft order, by team, shall be team with best record in previous year's League play first, followed by team with second best record, etc., with team having worst record drafting last. TIEBREAKERS (in order). This rule subject to change given special circumstances may need consideration, the Board of Directors has final say.

a. Head-to-head record in League play (best record drafts first)
b. Overall State Tournament record (best record drafts first)
c. Coin toss-winner of coin toss drafts first in first round of draft
d. Loser of coin toss drafts first in second round of draft, etc
e. Run differential shall not be used as a draft order tiebreaker.

3. Any team that qualifies move to a higher League level shall be considered to be the worst team in its League – if more than one team moves up to the same League B.2.c. shall apply. Exception: Majors League. Each team must play at level they draft.

4. Any team moving to a lower League level shall be considered to be the best team in its League - if more than one team moves down to the same League B.2.c. shall apply.

5. The draft procedure shall be as follows: The best team in Majors will fill their roster within a specified amount of time, competitive league director will provide this allowable timeframe. The second/next team will have x-amount of time to fill their roster and notify the next team of all remaining players available, and so on and so forth until all teams have been filled or all tryout participants have been selected.

C. NEW TEAMS
1. The Board of Directors may at their discretion form other age teams based on area registration.

2. Teams will be formed from those eligible players in a given level.

3. The New Team must have minimum of (6) players from a single high school area.

4. If there are two or more new teams at the same level of competition, then the coaches will alternate/rotate picks until all players have been selected.

D. TRANSFER TEAMS
1. In any age group and league level in which a transfer team is bracketed, the following draft regulations shall apply:
a. All returning BYBA teams shall draft in accordance with BYBA Regulations until they have filled their roster

b. If a new team is formed from eligible players in a given league level, then the new team will be considered to be a returning BYBA team and that team′s roster will be filled before any transfer team has a draft choice.

c. After every returning BYBA team has drafted the draft shall proceed with the transfer team(s) drafting last.

d. Transfer teams must submit an application to enter BYBA prior to the tryouts if they elect to play Majors or AAA. If the Transfer team elects to play AA or A then the application must be submitted prior to the first BYBA registration date. This application must have the coaches and player′s birth certificates, addresses, phone numbers, and attending schools listed.

e. Any previous BYBA Head or Assistant coach who is a party to the team applying for entry as a transfer team is subject to the Rules and Regulations outlined in Section 2, Article 2.

f. BYBA reserves the right to accept or deny any transfer team.

E. CHILDREN OF HEAD COACHES
1. Children of Head Coaches may be directly assigned to the team coached by the player's parent and/or legal guardian. Grandchildren of Head Coaches may be directly assigned to the team coached by the player's grandparent. The team will not lose a draft selection.

F. CHILDREN OF ASSISTANT COACHES
1. Children of Assistant coaches may be directly assigned to a team without participating in the TRYOUTS and DRAFT only as follows:
a. This option is only available for up to one (1) Assistant Coach.

b. Player's parent and/or legal guardian must be approved as an Assistant Coach by the Head Coach of the team; and second, by the Board of Directors as in Sec. 2.B.2

c. Any team exercising this option shall lose its first draft choice per player directly assigned to that team

d. Person(s) approved as Assistant Coach must, in fact, serve as Assistant Coach during practice and games

e. TRANSFER TEAMS may acquire only one (1) NEW PLAYER and will lose one (1) first draft choice

f. RETURNING TEAMS may acquire only one (1) NEW PLAYER, by the use of this method.

g. NOTE: These specific assistant coach rules do not apply to 7/8 and 9-year old competitive teams as the draft committee assists in building those age groups.

G. PARENTAL REQUEST FOR TEAM PLACEMENT
1. Players request to be placed on a specific coaching staff may be directly assigned to a team without participating in the TRYOUTS and DRAFT only as follows:
a. Player must be a NEW PLAYER

b. A request from the player's parent or legal guardian must be made to the President of the Association prior to the DRAFT. After the DRAFT, no such request may be approved.

c. Special circumstances must exist that clearly indicate that the affected player's best interest can be served ONLY by direct assignment to the specific team requested.

d. A Committee consisting of the President and all the Area Vice Presidents shall have the sole authority to approve or disapprove such request. They shall have the right to consult with any Association member(s) prior to approving or disapproving such a request

e. Any team acquiring a player by this method shall lose its first Draft choice in the next DRAFT.

H. ASSOCIATION COACH'S MEETINGS
1. The Head Coach or a representative from each Association team is required to attend the regularly scheduled monthly Association meetings. Any team not represented at any five (5) Association meetings in a current calendar year (January to December, excluding July) or any two (2) consecutive Association meetings shall lose its first Draft choice in the next subsequent draft. The team next in line for filling out its roster will be allowed to choose ahead for the lost pick.

2. EXCUSED ABSENCES from Association meetings:
a. Participation in a League game on the date of the meeting

b. May also be granted by the President of the Association provided that the President is informed prior to the meeting. The President shall have the sole authority in determining the approval of an EXCUSED ABSENCE and no subsequent appeals shall be allowed.

c. EXCUSED ABSENCES from Association meetings shall not be counted toward the potential loss of a Draft choice.

3. The records of the Secretary of the Association shall be the sole method used to determine the attendance at Association meetings.

4. No team shall lose more than two (2) draft choices per DRAFT for failure to attend Association meetings.

5. The Board of Directors shall have the authority to dismiss or disapprove the Head Coach of any team not represented at more than five (5) Association meetings in a current calendar year (January to December, excluding July) or any team not represented at any four (4) consecutive Association meetings. If a Head Coach is dismissed or disapproved for failure to attend Association meetings, the penalty of loss of draft choices shall not be imposed upon the team.

II.07 LENGTH OF TERM OF FULL-TIME VOTING MEMBERS
A. Any person approved as the Head coach of an Association team shall have full-time voting rights concerning league play immediately upon approval. Coaches do not hold voting rights concerning Board matters.

B. Once approved, Head Coaches shall have uninterrupted voting rights during the current calendar year except as terminated by Sec.2, K, 3

C. Voting rights for Head Coaches of 14-year-old teams shall expire immediately after the conclusion of their season.

D. Voting rights during Association meetings for members of the Board of Directors who are not Head Coaches of Association teams shall expire immediately after the Annual Meeting of the Association.

E. Voting rights during Association meetings for members of the Board of Directors who are not Head Coaches of Association teams shall commence immediately after the Annual Meeting of the Association.

II.08 10-AND-UNDER and TEE-BALL PROGRAM
A. All 10-year-old and under players not assigned to Majors/Elite, AAA, AA or League teams still desiring to play baseball shall be assigned to the Rec League program.

II.11 PLAYER REFERRALS TO ANOTHER AREA
A. Players may be referred to a League Area outside of their home area only in accordance with League Regulations and Rules of Play.

B. Players shall only be referred to a High School area under the jurisdiction of the Association. Only if this is not possible shall a player be referred to a different association.

C. Association teams shall be formed strictly by High School area whenever possible. The only reason for player referrals shall be:

1. Insufficient number of players to create a team

II.12 DISMISSAL OR REMOVAL OF COACHES
A. The Board of Directors, by a majority vote, may immediately dismiss, discharge, or otherwise remove from duty, any coach of an Association team for:
1. Failure to comply with the Bylaws, Regulations, Rules of Play, and policies and resolutions of either the Association or the League

2. Failure to protect the High School eligibility of any player assigned to his/her team.

3. Physically fighting with any person at any time before, during, or after any practice or game while serving in any capacity as a coach of an Association team

4. Negligence, gross ignorance, or gross incompetence demonstrated while responsible for his/her team that places any player(s) in physical danger in excess of the normal and customary risks associated with the game of baseball

5. Failure to become reasonably well informed about the Rules of Baseball in order to teach the game to his/her players

6. Failure to return to the Association, within a time frame determined by the Board of Directors, or a designated Committee thereof, any and all baseball equipment issued to his/her team, including uniform items

7. Any other action(s) detrimental to the Association as determined, solely and without recourse, by the Board of Directors

8. Failure to become "CERTIFIED" as a head coach through training offered by the Association prior to coaching his/her second regular season.

9. Internal recruiting of players (players already on an existing BYBA team) by any coach (head or assistant) of BYBA is strictly prohibited and constitutes grounds for dismissal or removal of coach
a. The ONLY allowable procedure for a coach to contact any player on another BYBA team, in order to discuss possible options available, is to contact the player's current or most previous coach, and request their permission to contact said player's PARENTS

b. In the event the player's current coach is unwilling to allow said player's parents to be contacted, then the interested coach is to contact the Vice President.

10. It is strictly prohibited and constitutes grounds for dismissal or removal of coach, for any BYBA coach (head or assistant), at any time, to provide any player and/or parents, of BYBA or ANY other youth baseball organization, any intentionally misleading or deliberately incorrect information regarding any Parent Organization and/or BYBA persons, procedures, or policies.

B. Ejection/Suspension of coach from games:
1. The Board of Directors, at its sole discretion, may impose, by a majority vote, a period of probation on any coach for any misconduct listed in P.1 above. Any further violation by a coach on probation is grounds for immediate dismissal.
a. The Head Coach of an Association team is to notify by phone the Vice President within 24 hours of an ejection and submit a written report no later than 3 days following an ejection.

b. The individual will meet with their Vice President, League Director, and President

c. 2nd ejection in one season will result in a minimum 3 game suspensions

d. 3rd ejection in one season will result in mandatory dismissal.

2. In addition to the penalties imposed by the BYBA Board of Directors, all Association coaches are subject to the Parent Organizations Disciplinary Committee who will impose the following levels of discipline for misconduct.
a. Level One Suspension is a restriction to the dugout. (Imposed by umpire)

b. Level Two Suspension is a one game suspension, not including the current game

c. Level Three Suspension is a three game suspension not including the current game

d. Level Four Suspension is a one-year suspension

e. Level Five is a lifetime suspension.

C. Request for removal of coach by parents of team members must meet the following requirements for Board of Directors to consider:
1. Parents of any team may request the dismissal of either their team's Head Coach or any of their team's Assistant Coaches by submitting to the Board of Directors, in writing, the reason(s) for request of dismissal, provided they follow one of these two conditions:
a. If at least one parent/legal guardian of two-thirds (2/3) of the players on a team sign a written request for dismissal of a coach of their team, it is required that the Board of Directors meet as soon as possible after receipt of request, to consider possible dismissal; PROVIDED that said request contains proof (date, time, and location) of meeting that all signing parents have had with coach in question to address their concerns AND that said meeting was held prior to submitting request for removal

b. If the number of parent/legal guardians required in a.) above is not achieved then the Board of Directors, or designated Committee thereof, shall contact the affected coach to discuss the situation. In this case, the Board of Directors shall have the following options:
1. To call a team meeting to discuss and agree to a solution

2. To place on probation or dismiss the coach for violation(s) listed in P.1. above

3. To further investigate the situation.

D. Any coach dismissed has the right to appeal for reinstatement to the Board of Directors. Such a coach must notify the President of the Association of his/her intention to appeal and the President must call a special meeting of the Board of Directors to hear such an appeal.

E. If a Head Coach is dismissed by the Board of Directors, the Board of Directors shall appoint an interim Head Coach for the affected team. The interim Head Coach shall have full-time voting rights at any Association meeting, but such voting rights shall expire immediately after the Annual Meeting of the Association.

Section III: RULES OF PLAY

III.01 MANDATORY PLAY RULE
A. All League Levels - For regular season League play, BYBA teams will bat their enitre roster, and for defensive play no player will sit more than two consecutive innings; there will be a one for one mandatory sit and play rule, however this mandatory play rule SHALL BE SUSPENDED ONLY as follows:
1. For any player, on a game-by-game basis only, who arrives at the site of a League game after the time specified by the Head Coach of the team AND/OR

2. For any and all players, if a League game is played less than the complete game, or a curfew that results in a complete game

3. If a player is being disciplined. In this case the player's name and reason that he/she is not playing must be listed on the game score sheet. These game score sheets can be called for review by the Board of Directors.

4. This mandatory play rule SHALL NOT APPLY for any game played less than the regulation number of innings due to game time limits.

B. The penalty for failure to abide by the Association's mandatory play rules shall be first, a warning from the Coaches Director, second, a one game suspension imposed by the President of the Association, and third, immediate dismissal as the Head Coach of the affected team.

C. TOURNAMENT PLAY ADMINISTERED BY THE LEAGUE, No mandatory play rules apply. However, it is strongly recommended that the regular season mandatory play rules be used.

III.02 UNIFORMS
A. The Association shall issue to all Association teams (excluding the "TO" program) a jersey, a pair of pants, and a cap.

B. All Association teams are recommended to use the uniform provided by the Association at all league games.
1. For intra-Association play only, an Association team may wear their tournament uniform.
2. For games or tournaments not classified as official League play, Association teams are permitted, but not required to wear the Association issued uniform.

3. Any team, at its own expense, may wear caps other than those issued by the Association provided that such caps match, exactly, the color(s) and logo of the Association issued caps. In addition, any team, at its own expense, may have Association issued caps, embroidered with names, numbers, and mascots.

C. Undershirts, jackets, warm-up jerseys, sanitary socks, batting gloves, shoes, etc., may be used by any team without restriction but shall not be provided by the Association.

D. Each Association team will wear the Associations issued uniform for team pictures.

III.03 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
A. All players 10 and under must wear a “heart-guard”.

B. All players are required to wear double-eared batting helmets while batting and running bases at all times, including all practices, scrimmage games, all practice games, all League games, all Tournament games, and any other time(s) while actively participating on offense while involved in any Association activity. This includes any player acting as a base coach at any time, or any player who otherwise is on a game or practice field of any type while not in possession of his/her baseball glove.

C. All catchers are required to wear complete catcher's protective gear, including an athletic cup, at all times in which a batter is in the batter's box. All ages are required to wear full catcher's helmet.

D. No player or coach shall throw bats, helmets, or other equipment in such a manner that endangers others, or in an unsportsmanlike manner.